(ANSA) - Brussels, February 26 - Doing business in Italy is
still hampered by obstacles to competitiveness and high
administrative costs, according to a European Commission (EC)
report on macroeconomic imbalances in EU member nations out
Friday.
Market liberalization measures being approved by parliament
"still will not eliminate significant obstacles to competition
in key sectors such as retail sales, professional services,
local public services, and transportation," the report said.
"Doing business in Italy is significantly harder than in
other large EU economies, with modest progress made in the past
few years," according to the report.
The EC pointed out that a drop in Italian exports since the
single currency was adopted "was aggravated in the first phase
of the economic crisis, and subsequent recovery was almost
null".
However the drop in Italy's share of the export market in
the past decade is "mostly due to eroded competitiveness", the
report said.
Doing business in Italy 'harder' says EC
Obstacles to competitiveness, high admin costs says report